Classic Rock? Not for a 14-year-old me.

When you have been writing code long enough that you start to see semi-colons, parentheses, i's, and //'s everywhere you look, it's time to take a break.

Today I got an email from BMG telling me that my Grand Funk Railroad featured selection was available and I was mildly amused by the fact that when my dad recommended them to me almost 15 years ago (I don't like the sound of that!) I blew them off because I didn't want to listen to my dad's music. So here's a list of the top bands I ignored my dad's recommendation about that you'll find on my playlist now:

1. Grand Funk Railroad. Spanning from American Band to Loco-motion, these guys make a lot of music for a trio. And they rock.

2. Cream. Sunshine of Your Love. 'Nuff said. Cream holds some of Clapton's earliest, rockin'-est stuff, with Sunshine being a great indication. I do have to admit that I started to come around to this song when I was 17 or 18 and learned it on guitar.

3. Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin. Dad used to tout this as one of the top five best, rockin'-est rock songs ever. Coming from the man who introduced me to Black Sabbath, I thought it didn't quite fit the bill. But now that I'm older and a little less prideful about what is "hard rock" enough to listen to, I'll admit it. This song is classic, perfect hard rock.

4. The Moody Blues. Due to the previously mentioned teenage foolishness, I thought these guys sounded kinda goofy. Especially when I'm Just a Singer in a Rock 'n' Roll Band was on that top five list. But, no surprise here, it's a quality, kickin' rock song.

5. The Who. Again due to teenage brain damage I thought these guys were too old to be "hard rock". By now it will come as no surprise to hear me say that I was wrong. Who are you? and My Generation are 2 examples of their quality rock tracks. A sure sign of my teenage brain-damage is that if I had known that they were the first ones to get away with having the f-word on an album, I probably would have liked them. Kids those days...

Now. For the top bands/songs I'm glad I actually listened to my dad's recommendation about.

1. Led Zeppelin. One of my top 5 favorite bands, possibly in my top 2. Stairway to Heaven is probably one of a 3 way tie for my number 1 favorite song. Over the Hills and Far Away and D'yer Maker, are also in my top "five". And to top it all off, anybody with references to The Lord of the Rings in not one, but multiple songs--well, I'm sold.

2. Van Halen. They were a little outside the Metallica, Megadeath, Iron Maiden, and others of the like I listened to back then, but those guys can really take care of business. The Van Halen brothers (Alex and Eddie) are awesome. And I have to say I liked them best with Sammy Hagar.

3. Whitesnake. I got their 10 greatest hits as a Featured Selection that I forgot to tell them not to send, and I was getting ready to send it back when Dad told me to open it up and listen to it. After a couple of tracks I was sold. You'll still find Here I Go Again in almost every single one of my playlists.

4. Bad Company. These guys kind of made the cut because of the teenage brain damage. I came across the record when I was 14. The only thing that went through my mind was remembering my mom telling my dad that she didn't want us to listen to it because it would make us want to be "bad" when I was like 7. So obviously I started listening to it and really liked it. Shooting Star, Bad Company, and Can't Get Enough of Your Love are still among my favorites.

5. Last but definitely not least, Black Sabbath. (The Ozzy Osbourne era) I was listening to one of my then favorites, (Metallica, Megadeath, or Guns 'n' Roses) when Dad came in my room with a battered, scuffed old cassette tape. He told me that if I liked whoever it was that I was listening to, I should listen to this tape because I'd probably like it, and he used to listen to it when he was around my age. I believe my exact words were, "I don't wanna listen to any of your old hippie crap." So he pushed stop on my stereo, put it in and pushed play. It just happened (random chance Dad?) to be on Paranoid. There was nothing my teen-age hard-headedness could say. Done deal.